


A Substitute for Glass Slippers

by loveinisolation



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, kurtbastian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 14:56:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/623411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveinisolation/pseuds/loveinisolation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College AU in which Sebastian has a thing for Kurt and tries to do something nice to prove it... with debatable success.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Substitute for Glass Slippers

Sebastian is pretty damn sure that this is one of the most disgustingly romantic things he has ever done in an attempt to woo someone. Not that he’s spent a whole lot of time actually  _wooing_  people. Usually it’s more about the not-so-subtle gestures towards the bathrooms or, hell, a dark corner of the room – really anywhere two people can share a quick fuck in or near a bar.

But then there’s Kurt.

 

Kurt, who Sebastian loves to antagonize more than anyone else he has ever met and who is absolutely determined that Sebastian is only pursuing him because he gets off on riling Kurt up and trying to embarrass him any way he can.

(In all fairness Sebastian  _has_ gotten off on images of Kurt. On multiple occasions. But any humiliation present in those imagined scenarios had been completely consensual.)

For all that Sebastian has tried to show Kurt that he is actually interested in him (interested in dating him – interested in being his boyfriend even), Kurt seems to be pretty set in his view of Sebastian and doesn’t seem particularly willing to even  _consider_  that Sebastian might be serious. But then Sebastian doesn’t have much to go on when it comes to pursuing something more than sex, so he concedes (at least to himself) that Kurt’s impression of him may be partially his own fault.

And so Sebastian is decorating the common room at the end of their dorm hall; putting up Christmas decorations scrounged from care packages from home and whatever he could find at the little local stores over the last 24 hours. And he’s cooking. It’s all in the hopes of showing Kurt that he’s actually willing to make an effort and to prove that he isn’t the jerk that Kurt seems to think he is.

He’s fairly certain he even managed to convince all of their floor-mates to stay away for a few hours. It wasn’t all that hard actually; most of them only use the shared living room and kitchen space rarely, generally for midnight mac and cheese or the occasional movie marathon with friends, maybe morning coffee if they’re running too late to make it to the dining hall before class. The only one who uses the kitchen just about daily is Kurt who, as far as Sebastian can tell, actually seems to  _enjoy_ cooking if the way he putters around the kitchen humming and relaxed is any indication.

Sebastian cannot fathom finding cooking relaxing the way Kurt seems to. In fact he typically finds himself stressed and spewing colourful insults at his cooking attempts when he inevitably burns either the food or himself.

This time is apparently no exception.

Sebastian is just about finished hanging the last piece of garland when the timer he has set for the chicken goes off. The sound startles him into nearly toppling off the couch arm where he is precariously balanced in order to reach the top of the window. After stumbling to the ground and towards the kitchen Sebastian had been so focused on getting the chicken out of the oven before it got dry or burned that he had grabbed for the dish it was in without so much as a towel covering his hand. He’d pulled back quickly, but not before burning bright red marks into the pads of two fingers, and a lesser mark on a third. He worked fast to grab the pot holders and pull the chicken out, practically tossing the whole of the dish onto the top of the stove and slamming the oven shut before shoving his hand into the sink to douse it in cold water.

“Ow, ow, shit. Mother _fucker_!” Sebastian likes to act tough, but he _hates_  pain and for whatever reason he finds that swearing a blue streak makes him feel better. 

Sebastian hears the scuffle of feet behind him just as he has finally cut off the stream of profanity and started to feel some relief from the icy water running over his fingers.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know someone was using the common room tonight.” Sebastian turns quickly, recognizing Kurt’s voice.  He sees the moment Kurt realizes it’s him in the kitchen; sees the boy’s bright, apologetic look morph into a rather more stony expression and watches the pleasant smile drop from his mouth. “Oh, it’s you. Let me just grab cereal or something and then I’ll get out of the way of your _seduction_ , or whatever this is.” Kurt’s voice is curiously flat, and Sebastian really wishes that he would stop closing off so completely the moment Sebastian comes anywhere near him.

Sebastian feels stuck for a moment before he jumps into action. “Actually it’s for you!” Kurt looks ever so slightly more interested than a moment before, but his gaze is still level, lips thin and strained. “The dinner I mean … not the seduction.” Sebastian sort of mumbles it, not quite as aware of his words as he maybe should be, so clearly _not_ used to trying to do something other than seduce.

“I don’t get it.” Kurt says, arms folding protectively, and suddenly Kurt’s eyes are full of life again, but he’s caught somewhere between anger and tears and Sebastian absolutely  _hates_ it. “I don’t get why you bother with all of this now, when you were so  _hell bent_  on ignoring me the first couple of weeks of school.”

Sebastian winces, because  _yeah_  he totally did that. Because right from the get go Kurt was, well,  _Kurt_  and Sebastian had immediately shied away from the possibility of developing a friendship (or something more) out of straight up fear – not that he would ever admit as much. He  _likes_ random hookups and not being tied to anyone and even considering a relationship still terrifies him (even if he actually really wants it). Sebastian reaches up to rub one hand across his face in frustration, unthinkingly using his burned hand and sending himself into another brief fit of swearing and shoving his hand back under the (still running) water. “Fuck, ow.” Sebastian hisses through gritted teeth.

Distracted by the pain, Sebastian doesn’t notice Kurt arrive at his side. “What did you do?” Kurt sounds concerned, and even if it’s just because Kurt is a good person and would be concerned about  _anyone_  if they were injured, Sebastian can’t help but feel hopeful.

“Got distracted and burned it on the dish the chicken is in when I took it out of the oven.” Kurt makes a sympathetic noise and peers at Sebastian’s hand through the water.

“Those look painful. I’ve got aloe in my room, I’ll be back in a sec.” Kurt takes off down the hall without another look and returns a minute later with a chunk of juicy green leaf in his hand. Sebastian must look confused because Kurt explains. “I have an aloe  _plant_. You cut the leaves open and use them to soothe burns and stuff.” Sebastian pulls his hand from the water and shuts off the tap, letting Kurt gently dab the burns dry and press the split open leaf to the tender, red sections of his fingers.

“Thanks.” Sebastian says with a relieved sigh as the sting of the burn dies down. Kurt watches Sebastian almost intently for a long moment, expression unreadable but rather less cold than usual.

“Why don’t you sit and keep the aloe on.” There’s a note of resignation in Kurt’s voice when he starts taking out glasses and plates.  _Two_  of everything, which means – “and I’ll serve us both some dinner okay?” Sebastian nods, feeling thrown off by Kurt’s suddenly changed attitude towards him. Maybe it’s just because Sebastian is injured, but he’ll take what he can get.

Sebastian murmurs his thanks when Kurt places his food in front of him, mashed potatoes, chicken and broccoli all in neat piles on the plate. “You know, this actually looks pretty good.” Kurt says, and then he takes a bite of potato and hums in approval, seeming to agree with his own assessment.

“Thanks.” Sebastian says again. “I just –” he swallows hard. “I’m glad it’s okay. I kind of generally suck at cooking.” He waves his damaged hand in the air as proof, one chunk of slimy green leaf sliding to the table.

“I still don’t understand why you’re trying so hard to get me to sleep with you. You’ve already proven that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of guys around who would happily do it without you having to so much as speak to them.” Kurt huffs a sigh and then quietly admits, “I may even have been one of them if you’d bothered to look my way during frosh week.” Sebastian blinks across the table at Kurt for long moments trying to process that piece of information, even though Kurt’s eyes are cast down at his food and give him nothing more.

“I didn’t – I don’t want that though.” Sebastian stammers. Kurt pushes his plate away from himself just slightly.

“I think you’ve made that abundantly clear.” His voice has gone hard again and Sebastian feels a little like his head is spinning.

“That’s not what I meant!” Sebastian groans in frustration. “If you would stop being such a princess for just  _one fucking minute_  I might actually be able to explain to you that I’m not the jerk you think I am.” He’s pretty sure he’s yelling now but honestly Sebastian could not care less in the moment.  Kurt is giving him a hard look from across the table, but at least he’s still there when he could be long gone back to his own room. “I do not do romance. Ever. I’ve never even  _tried_ until now. I spent the  _entire_  afternoon decorating and cooking  _for you_. I don’t  _do_ this kind of thing!”

Kurt looks shocked, but maybe just a little like he’s starting to understand that Sebastian isn’t doing anything but  _trying_  to be nice. “M’sorry.” He eventually mumbles. “I’ve never done any of this before, okay? No one has ever wanted to cook me dinner or anything. So I don’t know how to respond to this,” Kurt waves his hands at their food in demonstration, “any better than you know how to tell me that you aren’t just trying to get me into bed.” They’re both obviously frustrated, but something has shifted and they both seem to understand each other a little better.

They finish eating dinner together, even though the food is getting towards cold. The conversation gets stuck in first date mode, covering basic school and family related questions without getting into anything deeper. They’ve had more than enough of that already.

When they’ve finished eating and talking, Kurt excuses himself to go do some studying for finals after Sebastian tells him outright that he won’t let Kurt touch the dishes (he can’t be bothered to care that his burns will sting when they touch hot, soapy water, this whole thing is still for Kurt and that means Sebastian isn’t letting him near the dishes). Just before Kurt leaves the room Sebastian call his name, and Kurt stops in the doorway, turning to look at him where he’s placing dishes in the sink.

“So, um. If I wanted to ask you out … how would you want me do it?” There’s a smile on Kurt’s face that says he recognizes that Sebastian is trying. That this is an effort he does not usually put into pursuing anyone.

“Just ask, Sebastian. Don’t do that weird sleazy thing you usually pull on guys though, k?” Sebastian nods once and waits until Kurt turns to leave again before calling out.

“Hey, Kurt?” There is a smile on Kurt’s face now, and Sebastian can’t help but tease. “If I promise to get you back to the dorm before you turn into a pumpkin will you go out for dinner with me on Saturday?” Kurt rolls eyes and then easily rebuffs Sebastian’s awful attempt at teasing.

“I think you were trying to make a princess joke, but you do realize that it’s Cinderella’s carriage that turns back into a pumpkin, not Cinderella herself, right?” And this right here is  _why_  Sebastian likes provoking Kurt, because he is perfectly capable of tearing down any of Sebastian’s arguments and giving as good as he gets.

“Fine. Should I try again with commentary on you living with seven small, aptly named men?”

“Pretty sure the multitude of men is  _you_ , not me.” Kurt says, a hint of snark in his voice. “Not to mention that you’re the one with an ‘evil’ step-mother – don’t give me that look, you told me that like five minutes ago.” Sebastian rolls his eyes, already knowing where this is going even as Kurt taps his finger against his chin in mock consideration. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call your clothes  _rags_ , but there could be some definite benefit to be had from having a fairy god mother to help dress you.”

“Wait, so which princess am I? You’re mixing them together!” Kurt laughs, loud and abrupt before Sebastian even realizes that he has just agreed that he  _is_  a princess. Before Sebastian can say anything else Kurt is turned away and wandering off, voice floating down the hall behind him.

 _Tale as old as time_  
True as it can be  
Barely even friends  
Then somebody bends  
Unexpectedly

***

The next morning Kurt hears a knock at the door to his room. When he opens it all he finds is a single Christmas ornament sitting on the floor – one lonely glass loafer.

“Glass loafers?” Kurt asks by way of greeting when Sebastian answers his insistent knocking, holding the ornament up so it is dangling in between them. Sebastian turns and grabs something off the desk and holds up a matching loafer, the right shoe to Kurt’s left. Sebastian shrugs, a smile growing on his face.

“Seemed like an appropriate substitute for glass slippers.”

Kurt laughs and shakes his head. “That definitely kind of confuses who is the princess here though, doesn’t it?”

Sebastian shrugs again. “I kind of, maybe, realized that the point is that  _neither_ of us is the princess…”

“You  _just_ figured that out, huh?” Kurt takes a step closer to where Sebastian stands just inside his room. “You won’t turn into a frog if I kiss you, right?”

Sebastian laughs and steps forward to meet Kurt in the middle. “Pretty sure you’ve got that backwards.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics are from Beauty and the Beast :)


End file.
